The present invention relates to a transfer system for transfer between stations and more particularly a manless transfer system wherein the presence or absence of an electric current in a guide wire is detected to perform guidance and materials handling operation is automated.
For example, in textile mills the operation for conveying intermediate products to the next process requires a large number of workers since the products are subdivided, become complicated and sharply increase in number as they are passed through a series of subsequent processes. Generally, this conveying operation is manually performed with the products packed in boxes or carried on a simple pushcart. As a result, in the after-process many workers are required who carry the products from one place to another, and the need for labor-saving has been keenly felt.
With the above in mind, the present invention is intended to provide a guided truck adapted to automatically carry out loading and unloading between work stations to greatly reduce the number of workers while achieving timely transfer by means of centralized control, thereby increasing the transfer efficiency.
Another object of the present invention is to provided a system wherein an energized region between a baggage delivery location and a baggage reception location on a guide wire which guides a guided truck is variably set by means of centralized control, thereby eliminating the disadvantages inherent in the conventional complicated control mechanism, reducing the number of electric contacts required, and simplifying the control mechanism, it being noted that in the conventional system, at a predetermined truck stop position the guide wire is formed with a deengergized discontinuous region, whereby the truck can be stopped at said predetermined position, or the guide wire itself is divided into a plurality of sections so that each section can be selectively energized or deenergized to enable the truck to be stopped at at predetermined position.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a system wherein the most urgent object of transfer is selected as the next object of transfer to prevent any transfer site from being kept waiting for more than the transfer wait limit, thereby avoiding the decrease of the transfer efficiency in the two successive processes, and a congestion or shortage of transfer containers.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system wherein when there is a subsequent transfer demand signal, the guided truck is exempted from going back to its home base, thereby promoting the transfer cycle.